Kurt Tucholsky and the „Polysandrion”

Kurt Tucholsky’s novel Castle Gripsholm is a fantastically serene and mildly utopian book about love, happiness and escape from everyday life. Written at a time when the author began to suffer from the strains of his tireless political journalism. The openness, sophistication and generosity of the main characters are a stark contrast to the small-minded, reactionary German society which Tucholsky steadfastly criticized.

The book begins with the request of the publisher Rowohlt, that the author write him a light love story. A moment later, the narrator embarks with his „Princess” Lydia on vacation to Sweden. On the way they stop in Copenhagen: